Page 17 - Town of Newcomb Comprehensive Plan - 2010

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2.5 Economic Base

Taxes

Newcomb is one of 17 towns in the State of New York that uses the Homestead Tax Option for
residential properties. The Homestead Tax Option is intended to prevent any large shift of the
property tax burden to residential property owners after a revaluation. In qualifying towns, the
option allows for the establishment of two separate property tax rates: a lower tax rate for
residential property owners (the homestead tax), and higher rate for all other property owners
(the non‐homestead tax). However, only certain types of property qualify as residential
property under the Homestead Tax Option: one‐, two‐, and three‐family residential units; farm
homes, and mobile homes that are owner‐occupied and separately assessed. Vacant land

parcels not larger than 10 acres that are located in zones that restrict residential use to one‐,
two‐, or three‐family residential dwellings also qualify.

The estimated median housing value in the Town of Newcomb is $122,762. According to the
Essex County Real Property Tax Service, the School tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value is 8.10.
The Town’s homestead tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value is 1.097, the highway homestead
tax rate is 0.6776, the fire protection homestead tax rate is 0.1214, and the County’s tax rate is
2.20. As such, the median valued, homestead qualifying home in Newcomb is annually taxed
approximately $1,498. For non‐homestead properties, the Town’s tax rate is 6.1489, the

highway rate is 3.8023, and the fire protection rate is 0.6897. As such, a non qualifying parcel
valued at $122,762 would be annually taxed approximately $2,579.

According to Newcomb Central School, the School District’s total 2008‐2009 revenue is $3.1
million, which includes $2.6 million from New York State lands. As such, State owned and Forest
Preserve lands provide approximately 84 percent of School’s total revenue.

Income

The estimated 2007 median household income for Newcomb was $40,252 (see Figure 7,
Estimated Median Household Income), which is 24.8 percent less than the state average and 6.3
percent less than the county average. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the median
household income was approximately $32,600. Adjusting for inflation, that represents a nearly

one percent decrease in median household income since 2000. That is, since 2000 the median
income of Town residents has declined in real terms.

Figure 7 – Estimated Median Household Income: 2007

Newcomb: $40,252
New York State: $53,514

Town of Newcomb Comprehensive Plan
March 2010